2of 10One of the items Pamela Dean Kenny keeps in her modeling bag is her red kimono.Photo: Courtesy photo

3of 10Art model Pamela Kenny poses for students in an oil painting class at Southwest School of Art taught by artist Mira Hnatyshyn (cq) on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Kenny has modeled for artists since her teenage years growing up in New York. Art models have to keep poses from a few seconds to as long as 20 minutes depending on the need according to Kenny. Like many art models, Kenny has done several-hours long sessions which were more mentally taxing than physical. Kenny is also an actress and often, as a way to pass the time posing, she will go over lines for an upcoming show or play. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

4of 10Art model Pamela Kenny poses for students in an oil painting class at Southwest School of Art taught by artist Mira Hnatyshyn (cq) on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Kenny has modeled for artists since her teenage years growing up in New York. Art models have to keep poses from a few seconds to as long as 20 minutes depending on the need according to Kenny. Like many art models, Kenny has done several-hours long sessions which were more mentally taxing than physical. Kenny is also an actress and often, as a way to pass the time posing, she will go over lines for an upcoming show or play. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

5of 10Art model Pamela Kenny poses for students in an oil painting class at Southwest School of Art taught by artist Mira Hnatyshyn (cq) on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Kenny has modeled for artists since her teenage years growing up in New York. Art models have to keep poses from a few seconds to as long as 20 minutes depending on the need according to Kenny. Like many art models, Kenny has done several-hours long sessions which were more mentally taxing than physical. Kenny is also an actress and often, as a way to pass the time posing, she will go over lines for an upcoming show or play. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

6of 10Art model Pamela Kenny poses for students in an oil painting class at Southwest School of Art taught by artist Mira Hnatyshyn (cq) on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Kenny has modeled for artists since her teenage years growing up in New York. Art models have to keep poses from a few seconds to as long as 20 minutes depending on the need according to Kenny. Like many art models, Kenny has done several-hours long sessions which were more mentally taxing than physical. Kenny is also an actress and often, as a way to pass the time posing, she will go over lines for an upcoming show or play. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

7of 10Art model Pamela Kenny poses for students in an oil painting class at Southwest School of Art taught by artist Mira Hnatyshyn (cq) on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Kenny has modeled for artists since her teenage years growing up in New York. Art models have to keep poses from a few seconds to as long as 20 minutes depending on the need according to Kenny. Like many art models, Kenny has done several-hours long sessions which were more mentally taxing than physical. Kenny is also an actress and often, as a way to pass the time posing, she will go over lines for an upcoming show or play. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

8of 10Art model Pamela Kenny takes a break from posing while art teacher Mira Hnatyshyn (right) offers instruction to students during an art class at Southwest School of Art on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015. Kenny has modeled for artists since her teenage years growing up in New York. Art models have to keep poses from a few seconds to as long as 20 minutes depending on the need according to Kenny. Like many art models, Kenny has done several-hours long sessions which were more mentally taxing than physical. Kenny is also an actress and often, as a way to pass the time posing, she will go over lines for an upcoming show or play. (Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)Photo: Kin Man Hui, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

10of 10Pamela Dean Kenny became an art model as a teen. She has posed for art students at several schools and institutions in San Antonio.Photo: Courtesy photo / Courtesy photo

Early on, theater actor Pamela Dean Kenny realized that she was “unfortunately born without the food service gene.”

As an alternative to waiting tables, Kenny, who is currently a member of the Jump-Start Performance Co., began doing art modeling as a teen to supplement her income.

Decades later, Kenny has posed for countless artists — many of them at the Southwest School of Art, San Antonio College, the Coppini Academy of Fine Arts and other area schools and institutions — and, yes, as often as not, she has done so in the buff. We talked to her about one of the few jobs you can do in the nude without getting arrested.

How did you get started in art modeling?

Well, I was raised by artists, which is very much like being raised by wolves. I’m from New York City and various other parts. It was something I was familiar with and when I realized I couldn’t wait a table to anyone else’s satisfaction it was something I could do. Being a performer, I had dancer training and was into yoga and stuff, so it just seemed like a natural fit and it has been forever now. Unfortunately, now in the world it’s difficult to make a decent living doing it, but it’s a good supplement.

How old were you when you started?

I was probably 17 the first gig I did. It was at the Salmagundi Club in New York City, where I ended up working for years and years. New York’s full of old clubs that have restaurants and rooms for their members, or whatever, but also have studios and galleries and studio sessions.

What are your memories of the first time you modeled?

The very first time, I remember I mapped (the poses) out with little stick figures, so I had my little cheat sheet. And at the end of the session, someone came up to me, I can’t remember if it was the instructor or just the more vocal class member, “Oh, your standing poses were kind of 'meh’ but when you sit you’re monumental.” So I just stuck with it.

What does it take to be a good artists’ model?

You need to be still. You need to be silent, which is difficult for some people. I like to think I work really closely with the instructors. I know for each of them, I tweak my sessions to suit what I know to be their needs. Some people like really short, fast stuff and some people like more languid and voluptuous poses, and it takes a knowledge of art, too. In my head, I’m often “Oh, I’m doing an odalisque now.” Secretly in my heart, I’m always the muse.

Do you have a signature pose?

The Coppini Academy has a particular piece of furniture that is the only piece of furniture that I can do this particular pose in, so I do have a signature for them. It lets me be sort of in mid-motion of getting up and out of a chair, but I can hold it for a while. No one else that poses at Coppini can do it apparently.

What goes through your mind when you’re posing?

I’ve been asked and often my thing is “That’s a model’s secret,” but being a performer, I can run lines in my head. It helps me memorize lines.

So no grocery lists?

There’s that, yes. There’s mantras; there’s lists; there’s what I’m sure what some prisoners of war do which is re-create every step you took in your childhood home. That’s just for the excruciatingly long poses. There’s plans, there’s visualization, but it usually starts and ends with being really present.

What is the longest you have held a pose?

There’s some poses, like UTSA has a beanbag chair and there’s no getting back into it, because for longer poses you do the pose for half an hour, you get marked off, you take a break and then you get back into it. But gravity being what it is, and a beanbag chair being what it is, once I’m in the beanbag, there’s no getting back even kind of close to what it was — ever. So I have done three hours in the beanbag chair. I’ll tough it out.

Has doing this for so long made you comfortable with your body?

Yeah, yeah. And I have a real body. There’s another model in town. I refer to us as the senior models because we kind of are age-wise. But he’s very tall and I’m tall, too, but he’s really sinewy and I’m voluptuous. (laughs) So we kind of complement each other as far as what students get, but, yeah, I’m comfortable. There’s always someone that doesn’t quite get the personal space thing.

Is it awkward when you encounter students or artists outside the classroom?

Most people don’t recognize me with my clothes on, so there’s that.

I posed for a class that was terracotta sculptures. My initial couple of days there I asked who was going to turn me into a Chia Pet, but no one got it. But from that class later on, I was working in a bookstore, because I work many jobs, and at the checkout someone said, “Oh! You’re on my coffee table.”

Do you have any rituals you go through to get ready for a session?

Yes and no. I’ve got secrets like magicians’ secrets. (laughs) It just depends on what I’m looking at, but I do have my model bag. I carry a little bolster with me which I got at a Walgreen’s a million years ago. It’s like a perfect little bolster that either I can rest my hand on or tuck in my neck. So I would guess my model bag is my ritual because it has my bolster, my kimono, a little fabric to sit on and my flip flops.

Do you ever take a sneak peek at the artworks while you’re posing?

Sometimes it’s hard because some people are like, 'Look what I did!’ Hey, I’m not going to complain but blind contour (drawings) are not flattering to anyone. There was a (session) up at Majestic Arts Ranch (and) for some reason all the blind contours made me look like Robert Duvall.

Elda Silva is an arts writer who joined the staff of the Express-News in 1994. She writes primarily about visual arts. She began her journalism career at the San Antonio Light in 1990 after graduating from Trinity University with a degree in English and communications. In 1998 she was awarded a nine-month fellowship to Colombia University through the National Arts Journalism Program.